Riddle Me This
by Ochita
Summary: Soujiro meets a riddler. When he solves her riddles he'll have the answer to his questions. ch. 3 up
1. Default Chapter

RK isn't mine. None of them are! Don't sue me! I don't have anything! I'm as poor as Sano!  
  
Riddler  
  
A young man with the looks of a 17 year old walked into the town. He blinked his baby blue eyes and fixed his equally blue gi. He sighed and looked dejectedly at his cloths. To say they were awful was an understatement. But the look distaste in his eyes contradicted the cheerful smile that graced his lips.  
  
People looked at him with disgust. To them he was a bum, a man that couldn't get a job. They didn't know he was Seta Soujiro, once an assassin and legendary murderer. But who would guess the smiling lad was the legendary Tenken.  
  
"Get out! Your attracting kids again! You are a stupid kid! Out! Out!" A man shouted just as a thin figure was pitched through the door of an Inn.  
  
"I'm not a kid." The figure had a straw hat on and she pushed it back. A bunch of kids surrounded her. "Ha...er...maybe I am." She looked puzzled.  
  
"Jin, tell us another one!" A little girl cried.  
  
"Okay, riddle one, riddle two, riddle me, riddle you." The woman laughed as she pinched the little girl's nose playfully.  
  
"Riddle me this, there are two sons and two fathers in a boat that only seats three. They each have their own seat. How is this possible?" She asked.  
  
"That's impossible!" A man shouted at the woman named Jin.  
  
"Stop putting these moronic idea's in their heads ya bum!" He shouted again.  
  
"It's possible. You just don't know the answer." Another man smiled. "but Jin does." He grinned at the woman.  
  
Soujiro was interested. In his 5 months of travel he had never heard anyone say something as confusing as this. And coming from a small woman in a navy yukata with the sleeves shredded off. Scars littered her arms, her hair was shaggy and an odd cherry wood color tied back in a ragged braid. She wore(the type of pants that Soujiro wore when he battled Kenshin and the ones that Seijiro Hiko wears. I don't know what there called) that were an even darker blue.  
  
"Do you know the answer?" Soujiro asked as he stepped up to the second man.  
  
"Iie. I will in a little while but it seems impossible now." He said to Soujiro. "She only comes out of the forest every once in a while and the children love to ask her questions and hear riddles. Jin's strange but she's even helped a few adults with their questions and back talked some philosophers that didn't make sense."  
  
"Has she ever helped you?"  
  
"Directly, no. But she speaks in riddles. She'll give you a riddle that applies to your life and when you know the answer to the riddle you'll know the answer to your problem." The man smiled.  
  
Jin had attracted a crowd and people were now asking each other questions to figure out the riddle. Soujiro was puzzled for a moment. He had heard riddles before and he was always quick to get them but he didn't know the answer to this one. It seemed impossible to him.  
  
"Tell us the answer Jin! Onegai!" a little boy asked tugging at her pant leg.  
  
"Okay. The fact is there are only three people."  
  
"But you said there were four!" Shouted an old man.  
  
"Iie. I said there were two sons and two fathers."  
  
"That's still four people!" shouted a women. "Count 'em up!"  
  
"Iie. There is one grandfather, one father, and one son. The grandfather is the father of the father and the father is the son of the grandfather. That makes one father and one son right there. Then there is the father of the son and that is one more father and one more son. Two son's, two fathers." Jin smiled.  
  
That confused Soujiro but when he finally got it he didn't know how anyone was supposed to come up with such an answer. Then again there was a simplicity to it that made him wonder why he hadn't come up with the answer. There were many "Oh"'s in the crowd and the children just laughed some seeing the surprised look on their parents faces.  
  
"Tell us another one Jin!" A boy around 9 years old yelled.  
  
"Sure. Riddle me this, what do you fill a bucket with to make it lighter?" Jin smiled.  
  
Just then there was a screech in the air.  
  
"Sora!" Shouted the children happily when a giant golden eyed hawk landed on Jin's shoulder. She petted the bird and said "Sora know's the answer to this one right?"  
  
To Soujiro's surprise the bird nodded as if it understood.  
  
"You can't fill a bucket with anything to make it lighter." An old woman said. "It's not possible."  
  
"Sure it is." Jin grinned.  
  
"No, if you fill something up-"  
  
"Who said I was filling the bucket up?" Jin asked.  
  
"You just said-"  
  
"I just said I was filling it with something." Jin looked as if she were having the time of her life playing with these poor peoples minds.  
  
Soujiro began to see the pattern and as he thought this riddle was just supposed to be a play on words as was the other one. Weren't all riddles like that? So he thought and he thought. The answer finally came to him as he saw a man with a leaking bucket who was just standing there intent on listening to the arguing that was taking place.  
  
"Holes!" Soujiro shouted.  
  
"Correct for the man in the blue!" Jin cheered jumping up and down while the bird on her shoulder squawked.  
  
"Nani?" Asked the woman.  
  
"You fill a bucket with holes to make it lighter." Soujiro repeated.  
  
"Oh...that makes sense." The woman said.  
  
"I've got a question!" Soujiro shouted. He was still trying to get the wording right in his head for the question he was about to ask.  
  
"Shoot." Jin laughed.  
  
"What if a fact you've known all your life is contradicted by something else that seemes also to be a fact?" Soujiro asked. He was talking about the strong live the weak die type thing. He was still confused about how two truths could exist when they contradicted themselves.  
  
"Why do you ask me when everything I say is a lie?"  
  
(Chibi Ochita eating sushi) Yum Yum Yum! Oh Konban wa! Review Onegai! Arigato Gosimasu for reading! I looooovvvveee Sushi! 


	2. The Truth About Liars

The Truth about Liars  
  
"What do you mean by that?" A man asked.  
  
"Just what I said, everything I say is a lie." Jin proclaimed  
  
"No it isn't Jin." A little girl squealed.  
  
"Really, why not?" Jin asked  
  
Everyone seemed confused except of course Jin. Sora screeched and started preening his feathers.  
  
"This is another riddle isn't it?" The man beside Soujiro smiled at Jin and she just nodded.  
  
"I don't understand." Soujiro asked the man beside him.  
  
"The object of this riddle is to tell weather she's really lying or not." The man smiled.  
  
"How are you supposed to tell?" Soujiro was curious.  
  
"By her statement I suppose." The man shrugged.  
  
: How are you supposed to tell weather she's lying or not with only the statement that everything she says is a lie?: Soujiro wondered.  
  
"The riddle was meant for you, you know." The man next to him said.  
  
Soujiro blinked. So when he figured it out he would be worthy of the answer. But how would he figure it out? Ask her question's he already knew the answer to? Maybe just wait for her to blurt out a truth. Like 4&4 is 8 or something.  
  
"How can we tell?" asked a woman.  
  
Jin just shrugged. Then she said, "He's smiling." And pointed towards Soujiro.  
  
"That's true!" Shouted a woman.  
  
Jin pushed up her hat and walked over to Soujiro, stuck her face in his and scrutinized him carefully. Then she turned around and lifted a delicately arched eyebrow at the woman.  
  
"Then why does the smile on his face not match his eyes. Can one be truly smiling if their eyes show different?" Jin asked. Then continued, "That being said am I a liar for saying otherwise? Or is it the truth that a smile is only placed on your lips and not on your face?"  
  
Soujiro was mind boggled. How did she know he wasn't...well...happy? Was it some sort of riddler magic trick? Did she know what he was thinking and was she just playing with him as she did the towns people. Was he just another face to puzzle? And most importantly is she a liar?!  
  
:kami-sama this woman is confusing:  
  
Just then the bird, Sora, screeched a high pitched cry. Jin gave him a sour face and asked, "What do you mean Ahou's don't lie?" All the children giggled at this. The bird then started pecking his owner on the head.  
  
"Itaa! Itaa! Itaa!" Jin whimpered.  
  
Soujiro found this incredibly amusing as did some of the older people around him. Jin then chased the bird around in a circle calling him 'feather duster' quite a few times of which Sora objected to with another high pitched shriek.  
  
Still this didn't get Jin's riddle out of his mind. Was she telling the truth or was she lying. Just then an older wise man came up and shouted, "You are neither lying nor are you telling the truth Riddler!"  
  
"Really? Enlighten me philosopher." Jin sneered.  
  
Soujiro didn't need to be told that there was a tension between the two. The philosopher must have known the answer to the riddle because he had a smug smirk on his face. One that matched his haughty light brown eyes.  
  
"The answer is so simple that when I first heard this riddle I didn't understand it. But my master knew the answer and he told it to me. The answer is this: If you say every thing you say is a lie then if everything you say truly is a lie, then the statement you made at the beginning would have to be true. So to make the statement that you are a liar a lie you'd have to tell the truth so the fact is we can't tell if your lying or not. I also know the moral if you'd like that."  
  
"I would."  
  
"The moral is that you can never tell when someone is telling a lie or not."  
  
"That, my friend, would be a lie." Jin laughed. The philosopher blinked puzzled.  
  
"Yes it is." He snorted.  
  
"Iie. The moral is if there are two facts that contradict themselves then they aren't facts they're just opinions." Jin smiled. The philosopher thought about this for a second then he added, "But you still can't tell when someone is lying to you."  
  
"Really? If you asked me what color the sky was and I said green would you know I was lying?" Jin giggled. The philosopher turned beat red and looking rather flustered pushed past a few people to leave. Soujiro looked at him go and wondered what he thought of all riddlers. At least now he knew the answer though. Why wasn't he satisfied with just that? Maybe this little woman had all the answers? Then what was his opinion or truth? What on earth was he looking for? Just then something landed on his shoulder.  
  
Soujiro was snapped from his revere and almost screamed in surprise when he saw the flustered looking hawk on his shoulder clutching his collar bone with its talons. It gave Soujiro a once over then with a satisfied 'yes I think he makes a nice perch' look he fluffed out his feathers and shut his eyes with full intention to fall asleep on our little ruroni. Soujiro ara'd at the bird and to afraid to push him off because of his vicious looking talons he stood completely still.  
  
Jin scrambled over to Soujiro and began to apologize for Sora's behavior.  
  
"Gomen nasai...Seta-san." She said.  
  
Soujiro froze. Did she know who he was?  
  
"Um...do I know you?" Soujiro asked.  
  
"Iie.Notreally." Jin's replie was fast. In fact Soujiro hadn't really realized how fast the woman could talk until now.  
  
"Ha...um...then how do you know my name." Soujiro asked in his usually chipper voice.  
  
All of a sudden Jin burst out in tinkling giggles that reminded Soujiro of wind chimes. He rather liked her laugh actually.  
  
"Afraid our name is written on our face?" she smiled. "or perhaps in our eyes. So translucent yet so opaque." She laughed again. Soujiro could do nothing but squirm. Did she know who he was or didn't she? Or was it another riddler thing? "Or maybe..." Jin lifted her hand and it brushed past Soujiro's neck, her touch making him involuntarily shiver. Her hands were as warm and kind as she appeared. But it was over to soon in Soujiro's opinion because she grabbed at the collar of his gi and peeled it back a bit. "on the collar of our gi?"  
  
For the first time in Soujiro's adult life he felt the heat rush to his face. How could he be so stupid not to know that his surname was printed carefully on the collar of his gi? But something also made him blush. Why had she referred to him pleuraly as if she were included to him? Why did she say 'our eyes' and 'our gi' instead of 'your'? Was that just another riddler thing? Did all of them when talking to someone personally say 'we' and 'our' in the place of 'you' or 'your'? Or did this woman just like embarrassing the once Tenken?  
  
"Gomen, once Sora falls asleep he has a death grip on whatever he's holding." Jin scratched the back of her neck. Soujiro blinked out of his thoughts and looked at Jin. He almost jumped out of his skin when he saw she was actually just a girl. One that didn't look any older then 15. And here with all her wisdom he had thought she was older then him.  
  
"How do I get him off?" Soujiro asked now slightly in a panic. Jin clapped her hands in front of Sora but the bird wouldn't wake up.  
  
"Sora you Ahou wake up!!!" She shouted at the bird but he wouldn't wake up. Jin hung her head in defeat. Soujiro noticed that many people were laughing at them. Of course being himself all Soujiro did was smile as Jin tried again and again to wake up the sleeping bird.  
  
"Well it looks like your spending the night with feather brains."  
  
"ARA?" Soujiro didn't want to spend his night with a psychopathic bird.  
  
"When he wakes up he'll find me." She sighed. Soujiro looked at Jins eyes. They were light lime green. Like the lipstick Yumi used to wear. They seemed lively and happy but her tone of voice had been tired. :Strange:. Soujiro also noticed the stave on her back. :A ronin perhaps?:.  
  
The day was soon turning dark and Jin was about to leave when the man that had spoken to Soujiro said, "Sense Sora is stuck on the boy why don't both of you spend the night with me and my family."  
  
"I couldn't do that Toru." Jin said with a blush on her face which could clearly be seen even through the dim lighting as the sun was disappearing behind the hill by the town. The crowd had diffused and were going home or out to dinner.  
  
"Nonsense. Mika loved it when you stayed last time and so does Reiko-chan." The good natured man spoke kindly to Jin.  
  
"I really don't want to cause any trouble." Jin said softly.  
  
"Your no trouble at all."  
  
"Iie. I can just go back to the forest."  
  
"I won't take no for an answer." Toru said defiantly. Jin just sighed then lifted her head and smiled.  
  
"Hai alright." She then started to laugh. "You are one of the only people I give into."  
  
Toru laughed. Then said, "And of course young man you are coming with us. Jin couldn't leave her care taker behind no matter how feathery he looks."  
  
"Ara? Care taker?" Soujiro was confused and cocked his smiling face cutely.  
  
"Hai. Without Sora, Jin couldn't live ne?" Toru smiled as he asked a beat red faced Jin.  
  
"Iie! I'm old enough to take care of myself." Jin growled at Toru.  
  
"Keep telling yourself that." Toru mumbled as he turned around and lead Jin, Soujiro and Sora to his house.  
  
***********************  
  
"JIN!" Shouted a girl about 13 years old.  
  
"Konichi wa Reiko-san." Jin smiled at the younger girl who had just glomped her.  
  
"Oka-san! Jin's here!" Reiko shouted at the top of her lungs even though she didn't really have to. The house was a normal cozy type house that currently had a delicious smell floating from the kitchen. Soujiro, who hadn't had a decent meal in over a month, was almost drooling.  
  
"Oh Jin, honey, it's so nice to see you again." said a sweet looking woman around her late thirties with long brown hair and warm brown eyes.  
  
"Konichi wa Mika-san." Jin bowed politely to the older woman.  
  
"Nani? No hello for me?" Toru pretended to look hurt.  
  
"Of course not dear." Mika smiled as she strode up and gave Toru a small peck on the lips.  
  
"Oh and who's the darling young man?" Mika asked.  
  
"Boku wa Seta Soujiro desu." Soujiro smiled.  
  
Mika raised her eyebrows looking almost surprised. "Cute and polite. Now that's something I haven't heard of." She giggled. Soujiro felt again the uncomfortable heat rush to his face.  
  
"Give us a riddle Jin, onegai!" Reiko giggled.  
  
"Okay, riddle me this. The only son of a husband and wife is sitting in a jail cell. He looks out the window and sees a younger man sitting on a grassy hill. Then he says, "For that mans father is my father's son." So who is the man out on the hill?"  
  
Soujiro blinked in confusion.  
  
"Hmm..." said Mika. She truly looked puzzled.  
  
"Well, I'm hungry. Let's ponder the question over dinner." Toru suggested.  
  
"Ack! You and your stomach." Mika scowled.  
  
"There was an old saying that the only way to get to a man's heart is through his stomach." Jin said with a crooked grin.  
  
"Aa. Then he was a wise man indeed." Toru chuckled.  
  
Dinner was ready and they all sat around the table. Including Soujiro who still had Sora perched on his shoulder snoozing. Soujiro didn't mind as much the fact that the bird was on him, he only minded that he couldn't get the bird to move. As Soujiro was eating he couldn't get the words from the riddle to leave his mind. :For that man's father is my father's son. Wouldn't that make the person sitting on the hill his own self? It couldn't be a brother because he was an only child:. Soujiro pondered as he ate. This wasn't fair. The riddle was ruining his meal.  
  
Suddenly his food disappeared from his chopsticks. He blinked and looked at the bird perched on his shoulder who was currently chomping on something that Soujiro new was a piece of sashimi. Soujiro sighed. Now the bird was ruining his dinner. :Wait a minute...: the bird was awake. Soujiro looked at Sora timidly and said, "Could you move, onegai?". The bird looked a bit irritated but he moved. Now it was perched on Soujiro's head. "Ara? Demo...that's not what I meant." Soujiro said. He may have been the Tenken once but when it came to a creature like Sora, Soujiro was scared half to death. He wasn't an animal person and he didn't know why the bird had taken such a liking to him.  
  
"Sora knows what you meant he just doesn't want to leave you so he's pretending not to understand." Jin said glaring at the bird. The bird screeched which startled Soujiro but he remained perfectly still.  
  
"Take that back!" Shouted Jin as she leapt to her feet.  
  
"Can you really understand the bird." Soujiro asked.  
  
"Hai." Jin muttered as she sat back down.  
  
"Sora if you don't come now I'll make yaki tori out of you." Jin threatened. Sora screeched and flew over to Jin.  
  
"What do you mean?" She asked the bird who screeched again.  
  
"We are both capable of taking care of each other." Then Jin blinked "that didn't come out right." Her face was bright red. The bird let out a wheezy sound that confused Soujiro for a moment until he realized it was the equivalent to the strange hawks laugh.  
  
"Jin is the man on the grassy field himself?" Reiko asked referring back to the riddle.  
  
"Iie." Jin smiled.  
  
"Then who is he?" Soujiro blurted out.  
  
"He's the man's son."  
  
"ARA?" 


	3. The Wrong Turn

Don't own, wakarimasu ka?

**The Wrong Turn**

After Jin finished explaining the riddle everyone was red in the face. She was pointing and laughing, rolling on her back like a child until Sora screeched and started pecking at her head. Soujiro watched the girl in amazment.

"Jin-san, I think its past your bedtime." Toru frowned.

"Bed time?! I'm nocturnal I don't come out in the daytime usually, you know that!" Jin squawked.

That surprised Soujiro greatly and he almost ara'd. But it now made sense.

_That's why she looked so tired._

"…Ha, I forgot" Toru smiled scratching the back of his head, then turned to Soujiro, "There's an extra room if you go down the hall, the third one on the left."

Soujiro got up and asked, "Is there anything I can do for you before I go to sleep…like help with the dishes or something?"

"Oh, what a sweet young man." Mika giggled, "Don't worry about it honey, Jin-san'll get board and help me with the dishes."

"Are you sure?" Soujiro asked.

"Hai. Go to sleep, you don't look like you've had a good one in a while."

Soujiro smiled brightly and said, "Domo arigato gozaimasu, for taking me in for the night."

He then bowed and walked down the hall to the room. It was set up for a visitor so Soujiro immediately lay down. The only problem was going to sleep. He had a decision to make. He was contemplating whether or not to ask Jin if he could…tag along with her for a little while. He was curious about the girl and her strange answers to questions that he couldn't answer himself.

A million other thoughts were floating through his mind as he stared up at the ceiling. 19 years old and still looked like a kid (considering a kid was supposed to be 16-17), most wouldn't suspect him to have such strange thoughts about his life, and ever since he'd walked off Mt. Hiei his somewhat empty mind was flooded with these views.

_Every time I remember my past I can't see how I can redeemed myself. I wish I could forget, or at least be able to regain my empty state of mind. My wanderings lead me around in circles, into uninhabited marshes, cities with bad reputations, and never-ending forests. It took Himura-san the years, but throughout those ten years he had a goal. To protect the weak. I no longer carry a sword. My smile will not loosen from my face because I don't feel anything but content; I cannot remember the angering frustration I felt when I fought for the last time. The words that seem so wrong, they don't sound that bad anymore. I try to find answers but I only find more questions. According to Jin-san, everything that anyone believes in is mostly opinion. Does this mean that I need to make something up? I can't just op for something someone else believes? I used to think the world was cruel and in reality it still is but not in the same way. The weak, in some places will always be oppressed, Shishio-san was right in that respect, but…it's wrong. Himura-san is living a dream, but it's not the nightmare Shishio-san was planning. Maybe it all depends on what I want. But I don't know what I want. I'll ask Jin-san to help me tomorrow, I need to sleep now. _

Soujiro shut his eyes and drifted off into dreams of nothingness.

* * *

"Hmm…to find out what you want in life…a tough one." Jin murmured as she walked through the forest, Sora perched on her shoulder. 

Soujiro and Jin had left Toru's residence, after taking a bath and eating. He'd asked her if he could tag along with her on her travels, learning that she traveled through the forests. She'd turned her head to the side and asked why. He'd replied that he needed answers and thought she could help. She'd shrugged and smiled at him saying, "Suit yourself."

Soujiro had taken that as a yes. Now he posed his first question and she was thinking it over pensively. She'd slept a little last night and but her brain was still a little bit fogged up. The wheels were turning in her head and she then proclaimed, "Your looking at things a bit to broadly Seta-san. Riddle me this, a foolish man walked a long path and stopped in a town. He didn't have enough money so he stayed in an alley way for the night and was robbed of what little he did have. He continued down the long path not sure where he was now headed. He met another stranger but was too prideful to ask for directions so he stopped and starved for almost a week until coming upon a village that offered him a place to stay. The foolish man merely ate and left. He continued to walk, straying off the path thinking it would cut his time in half, and was attacked by bandits. He managed to get away but accidentally fell into a river that cast him over a waterfall. Still the man survived and continued his walk. After many days of traveling he found a place and ceased his journey. Another man walked a short path without difficulty. He met no disaster and settled down earlier having found a place. Which of the men is the wiser?"

"The second." Soujiro snorted.

_Why go through all the trouble for the same result?_

"That, my dear friend, is incorrect." Jin laughed and Sora screeched in agreement.

"Ara?" Soujiro asked, completely confused.

The second man had been smarter, he didn't get into trouble and lead a good life, settling down just as the other had but without the hazardous journey.

"The second man didn't learn anything along his journey. The first learned to, be more prepared, don't sleep in an alleyway, ask for directions, stay for a while when offered because you don't know when you will be offered such again, don't stray from the path, and to look where your going. The man took many wrong turns and learned what caused his troubles." Jin turned around and smiled.

Soujiro kept smiling and thought for a while then asked, "What relevance does that hold to the subject at hand?"

Jin tried to keep the grin off her face and asked, "Must I feed you the answer."

"Ara?" Soujiro turned his head to the side, beaming as always.

Jin spun around and walked up very close to him almost causing Soujiro to fall backwards but he didn't. Amusement shown through her eyes as she answered, "Your thinking about the end result Seta-san, not the means in which you need to get there."

"But why do they matter?" Soujiro turned his head to the side curiously.

"Because without the means you may get the same end result but you don't gain the answers to your questions."

"But that's like asking me to know what mistakes I have to make to get my answer." He sighed looking at the ground but the smile was still ever present on his face.

"Are you sure you already haven't made them?" Jin asked quietly.

That made Soujiro stop in his tracks his eyes narrowing slightly, "Have I?"

Jin turned around and spoke monotonously, "You're what 17 y-"

"19"

"Okay, your 19, and you're wandering around looking for an answer to a question that even the wisest sages don't know the answer to. The fact remains the same that to do something like that without completing a fourth of your life, which means that you must've done something wrong but can't figure out how to correct what it was."

"If I know my mistake than I'll know my answer?" Soujiro asked before continuing, "That doesn't make sense, I've made as many mistakes as everyone else, maybe more. How do I know what to choose?"

"Everyone has made a few major mistakes, start with the first." Jin replied nonchalantly.

_My first mistake? What is my first mistake?_

Soujiro had a sinking feeling that he knew what it was.

"How can I figure correct the flaw?"

"Usually it tends to be the opposite of what you were doing at the time that caused your mistake."

"But what if that doesn't make sense?"

"Then you need to use what you know to find out what went wrong."

"If I have no answer how can I decipher what is a mistake and what isn't?" Soujiro questioned.

"Riddle me this. Two princes were fighting over their inheritance. They questioned there elderly father, the king, about who would become the next king. He then declared that they would have a hundred mile horse race but this race was different. The horse that got there last would be the winner. Both the princes tried to go as slow as they could and wound up at an inn barely two miles out of town. They both sat down at the bar looking tired so the bartender asked what was wrong. They both told him of there dilemma and the bartender replied with two words that solved there problem. What were the words?"

Soujiro managed to calm down, smile still on his face, returning to content instead of frustrated.

_How can two words turn the situation around? There are so many words to pick from, how can I narrow it down to two when I don't know my first question. This is ridiculous, she's screwing with my mind and I'm letting her. If Shishio-san saw me now he'd laugh…or smack me upside the head._

"You're not going to tell me the answer ne?" Soujiro asked pleasantly.

"Not a chance in heeeellllllll." She replied in a sing song voice.

He continued thinking, it was starting to make his head hurt. This made him try harder but couldn't find the answer. The mystery confused him greatly but he didn't let it disrupt his content mood. He remained congenial, noting that the girl was anything but a conversationalist, but that might have been a side effect of sleep deprivation. He turned to look at her. Her batty looking straw hat, her cloths were worse then his, her bare feet, the look on her face, the way she walked, everything about her screamed that life was one big joke to her. Her lime green eyes sparkled as she watched Sora fly from her shoulder.

Soujiro wondered what kind of life she'd lived. There were stories behind those lime green eyes and the ex-tenken felt his curiosity spark. How did she become a riddler? Why was she wandering around?

"Is there any particular reason you wander around?" Soujiro inquired.

"Lack of better things to do." She muttered.

"You mean you just up and left where you lived to travel pointlessly? I don't think a 15 y-"

"17"

"A 17 year old girl would do that for no reason."

Soujiro then noticed the giant grin on her face. She curled her lips in trying her hardest not to laugh but didn't really succeed. She began to laugh at him, her whole frame shaking, trying her hardest to stay on her feet but falling back into a tree trunk.

"Nani?" Soujiro questioned smiling.

"I've never lived anywhere!" She giggled.

"Ara?" Soujiro asked now thoroughly confused.

"Oh, forget it."

"No really, I don't understand, why would you laugh?" Soujiro still smiled as he asked.

"Do I look civilized enough to last a day with other people. I'd go insane." She smiled.

"Why?"

She stopped smiling and just shrugged her shoulders. The light in her eyes dimmed slightly and she had a somewhat far away look in her eyes. Soujiro now knew that something in this girl's past bothered her. He didn't press the subject but silently pondered her answers. He watched her and he felt in his stomach that someone was wrong. His mind tried to find what it was and then he realized it. They weren't traveling on a path yet the girl seemed to know exactly where they were going. It just wasn't right in his mind.

Who was she? She definitely wasn't just a childish riddler, she was something else. The way she walked was too smooth to be just an average person, but it wasn't the walk of a swordsman, which only served to confuse him further.

She stopped abruptly and yawned, "I'm tired, let's take a nap."

She then jumped into a tree and lay down on a branch, her arm hanging over her side, tilting her hat so that it covered her eyes from the sun, smiling in a content manner.

Soujiro: 0o;

"Anou…it's 11:00 in the morning. Don't you think it's a little early for a nap?"

"Seta-san, I really don't like traveling in the light hours. The warmth and light make me sleepy. Just give me an hour or somethin'."

Soujiro sighed and sat down, leaning against the tree trunk, deciding that resting for a while couldn't hurt.

* * *

Of course the ex-tenken hadn't intended on falling asleep and was now awakened by a certain grinning riddler. Her lime green eyes almost seemed to glow in the darkness of night. He looked around at the full leafy trees and watched the moonlight pass through them, casting small shadows about the place. He felt a small breeze blow by, filtering through the leaves causing them to dance, the shadows jumping about on the ground. He stood up and looked at her. He looked at the scars on her arms and saw that they were set in a pattern, some of them symmetrical. They were thin swirling lines more so decorating her than inflicted upon her. 

They began walking in a pleasant silence before the former manslayer asked, "How did you gain your knowledge?"

She turned around with a surprised look on her face and then smiled sheepishly, "It's not knowledge really. It's a little difficult to explain."

Soujiro smiled at her as always, "You're always so cryptic when you answer me. It makes you very hard to understand."

She turned around and her eyes glittered with amusement as she spoke, "Maybe it's because I don't have all of the answers. Maybe it's because I'm not as smart as you think I am."

Now that surprised Soujiro, something very difficult to do, but to her it seemed so easy. He remained quiet before speaking softly, "You have more of an answer than I do."

"Iie. I don't." She giggled.

"How can you say that you don't? Isn't that what you're searching for?" Soujiro asked, smile still plastered to his face.

"To have an answer you have to have a question."

"Meaning…?"

"I lack a question."

"You don't have any questions about your life?"

"I don't really know. I never think about it." She shrugged.

"You seem a little…carefree." Soujiro deduced.

"Well, aren't you perceptive?" She drawled, sarcasm dripping off her words.

Soujiro didn't know what to think of that. There was another long silence as they passed through a clearing. He stared at her back and saw Sora perched on her shoulder contently. The bird was sleeping. He began to wonder how those two met.

"I forgot to ask, why are you traveling?" Jin asked.

Soujiro's smile became smaller, "To find my truth."

"How long have you been wandering?"

"Six months."

"Find any good leads?"

"Iie. I can't find anything."

Jin stretched, cracking her back before grunting out, "Thaaaat's not surprising."

"What do you mean?" Soujiro asked slightly offended.

"You Seta-kun, constantly make mountains out of molehills. You perceive to much and don't notice that the answer is right under your nose."

Soujiro stopped and thought that over. The wind blew by causing his dark chestnut brown hair to flitter in front of his face.

"Switch horses." He blurted out, then put his face in his hands and mumbled, "Kami-sama it was obvious."

"You got it!"

Soujiro turned his head back up, his usual smile gracing his lips, "You told me that riddle because you knew I wouldn't answer for a while. The whole point was to let me know that I'm over analyzing everything when the answer is in front of me."

"You are very smart ya know that?"

"I know my first mistake but I don't know how to correct it, do you know how I could find the correction?"

"Undo it."

Soujiro's shoulders sunk at that and he asked, "Ara?"

"I said undo it."

"What do you mean."

"The man in the story, next time he went traveling he didn't sleep in an alleyway."

"B-but what if it can't be undone?"

"Seta-kun, one step at a time, first go back to where you made your first major mistake. So now that we have a destination, where are we headed?"

Soujiro paled and he whispered, "Kanagata prefecture."

* * *

Hiiiii! Finals are over. **AND I PLAN TO LAY AROUND LAZILY ALL DAY AND NOT WORRY ABOUT A DAMN THING!!! BWAAAAHAAAAHAAAAHAAAHAAAHAA!!! THE FRIKKEN TEACHERS CAN'T GET MAD AT ME FOR SLEEPING DURING SCHOOL HOURS ANYMORE!!! THE CONSPIRICEY IS OVER FOR NOW, VERY MUCHLY SOOOOOOOO!!!!** Eh hem, sumimasen. Review for me onegai shimasu. I'm sorry to all those who wanted me to review that I didn't sooner very muchly so. Domo to all those who reviewed! Last time 


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